i thought every family thought about religion and politics every night. what brought me to it is exactly what you hear the other women here talking about. i was an advocate. i started a nonprofit social- service agency. i did teach politics and history, so i kept the interest going, but it was really katrina that put me down this path. i came back and said, we can do better than this. that is what started it. a passion for change and to be an advocate. i think all the people at this table share that. >> i hear you all talk about service -- when i was a girl, my mother was politically active, she went into the new hampshire legislative when i was 12. she would pile everybody in the station wagon and take us to a neighborhood and drop the kids off. we would run down going door-to- door with the leaflets. then she would pick us up at the other end and take us to the next three. but at the end of the day we got an ice-cream cone, so it was all worth it. [laughter] >> all of us had strong mothers. that is what we are hearing here. my mother was my hero come to